–The London Review of Books has posted an episode from its ongoing podcast called Close Reads that may be of interest. This is in a series entitled “On Satire” that is conducted by Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell, both Fellows of All Souls, Oxford. The 32-minute podcast is available on YouTube and Apple Podcast. Here’s the description:
In 1946 Evelyn Waugh declared that 20th-century society – ‘the century of the common man’, as he put it – was so degenerate that satire was no longer possible. But before reaching that conclusion he had written several novels taking aim at his ‘crazy, sterile generation’ with a sparkling, acerbic and increasingly reactionary wit. In this episode, Colin and Clare look at A Handful of Dust (1934), a disturbingly modernist satire divorced from modernist ideas. They discuss the ways in which Waugh was a disciple of Oscar Wilde, with his belief in the artist as an agent of cultural change, and why he’s at his best when describing the fevered dream of a dying civilisation.
The YouTube link allowed me to listen to about half the podcast. You may have to register and/or pay a fee to hear the whole episode.
–Waugh’s friend Lord Berners is memorialized in an article appearing on a BBC website. The article by Geoff Brown relates to Berners’ music rather than his writing or painting. Here’s a summary from the introduction:
…Berners’s music changed in temper over the years, but the key ingredients, some contradictory, always remained: avant-garde grit meets traditional craftsmanship; cosmopolitan flamboyance runs alongside English reserve; stylistic satire is warmed by affection; and humour comes tinged with nostalgia, sometimes melancholy. If we cherish Satie, as we do, we should definitely cherish Lord Berners as well….
Since Waugh found listening to music physically painful, he is unlikely to have had extended discussions with Berners about his musical compositions. Indeed, Waugh once in 1947 declined an invitation from Stravinsky to attend the premiere of one of the latter’s compositions based on his inability to listen to it. See below. Waugh is mentioned briefly in Geoff Brown’s article and appears in at least one of the photos (of which there are many).
—Gentlemen’s Quarterly has posted a list of books prepared by Josiah Gogarty which it claims offer light or escapist reading to see one through the heavily political atmosphere of today’s recent election environment. Here’s one by humous journalist Craig Brown entitled One on One: 101 True Encounters (2012) in which Waugh’s 1947 declension of Stravinsky’s invitation noted above features prominently:
This book has a brilliant premise: it consists of 101 real-life encounters between historical figures from Elvis to Rasputin, with each one written in 1,001 words and forming a link with the stories either side (Alec Guinness meets Evelyn Waugh, Evelyn Waugh meets Igor Stravinsky, Igor Stravinsky meets Walt Disney…). It’s an amazing technical accomplishment, but it’s also very fun – Craig Brown has a great knack for finding good dialogue and anecdotes. Forget the present day and start ping-ponging around the 20th century.
–Finally, the religious/political website The Imaginative Conservative has a brief article discussing:
…two great novels, one of which [Brideshead Revisited] is rightly considered a classic and the other of which [The Mass of Brother Michel (1942) by Michael Kent] is largely unknown, and then will conclude with Tolkien’s great prose epic, The Lord of the Rings…
